Marvel Legacy Review: Defenders #6 Brian Michael Bendis’ Best Work For A While

Continuing to be one of the best books Marvel is currently putting on the stands, The Defenders #6 culminates the opening arc with blindingly fantastic action and wit.

The Defenders #6 from Marvel Comics by Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez and Justin Ponsor is a bit of the exception that proves the rule to much of what we can expect with Marvel Legacy. While many of the other series will be starting brand new arcs, even if they go back to classic numbering, TheDefenders #6 not only retains it’s current volume numbering but is also the final part of the initial story arc by the team.

Defenders #6 cover by David Marquez and Justin Ponsor

It does however set up a lot of the direction of where the series is going from here. And it does it fabulously.

The Defenders #6 is a banging issue. For those maybe unsure about UK colloquialisms, it’s freaking fantastic. Funny, full of banter, with spectacular action, high stakes, and real great comic intrigue, it really is a fantastic issue to have. It would even be fine to read as the first one you pick up…it will make you want to go back and read the rest, but the story in this issue is in itself totally easy to follow if you hadn’t caught any of it to date.

It also has perhaps one of the best fourth wall shattering sight gags I’ve seen lately, which gave me a giggle.

What I maybe had not mentioned before, aside from some small praise over the general overall writing on this series being good, is that Brian Michael Bendis is turning in perhaps the absolute best written comic series he has done in years in TheDefenders. Not to belittle any of his other work, but The Defenders is above and beyond the best work he’s done and sees him at his absolute peak. Honestly, it feels like Bendis was made for the TheDefenders.

Maybe it’s because of his clear love for these characters, maybe it’s because he’s clearly having fun here and maybe it’s because the story feels relevant as hell too. But Bendis is knocking it out of the park, and no more so than in this issue.

There’s some surprises for readers of the series to be sure, and I think people will get a kick out of it.

The Defenders #6 culminates effectively, interestingly and genuinely entertainingly an incredible series at Marvel, and every single person attached to this book should be proud as hell about it. If you have not been reading The Defenders as yet….start.

Joe Glass has been contributing to Bleeding Cool for about four years. He’s been a roaming reporter at shows like SDCC and NYCC, and also has a keen LGBTQ focus, with his occasional LGBTQ focus articles, Tales from the Four Color Closet. He is also now Bleeding Cool’s Senior Mutant Correspondent thanks to his obsession with Marvel’s merry mutants.

Joe is also a comics creator, writer of LGBTQ superhero team series, The Pride, the first issue of which was one of the Top 25 ComiXology Submit Titles of 2014. He is also a co-writer on Stiffs, a horror comedy series set in South Wales about call centre workers who hunt the undead by night. One happens to be a monkey. Just because.